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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. spell — letters
  3. rush — hurry
  4. wound — an injury
  5. foot — a measure
  6. track — a song
  7. season — in sport
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. chair — a leader
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. wound — an injury
  15. track — to keep track
  16. spell — magic
  17. season — of the year
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. spell — a short time

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com